Anchoring at an Altar

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Jessica Hogan, Volunteer, Honduras

The alarm sounds early, waking Ivan from his slumber. He slips out of bed, rubs his eyes, and makes his way to the chapel in the early morning darkness. A rooster crows to announce the new day, and the crickets continue their steady chirping cadence.

He opens the chapel doors and turns on the lights, already joined by a few others who chose to give up some sleep. This small group calls themselves the Remnant of Intercession. 

Ivan walks to the front and faces the altar. The students at Escuela El Sembrador (School of the Sower) in Honduras will be waking up in an hour, and the chaos of the day will begin. But for now, he embraces the stillness. For now, it is only him and God, sharing a quiet moment.

On his knees, he bows his face to the floor.

He breathes.

He begins to pray.

Ivan is the residential life counselor with a missionary’s heart at El Sembrador. Caring for over 80 residential boys is a daunting task, which is why Ivan decided last year to dedicate the first hour of the day to prayer.

“I wanted to give God the first moments of the day,” he said. “In that time I could give all my burdens to God, and it helped me begin my work with new strength.” Over time a small group of students joined him, and together they prayed for their classmates, for El Sembrador employees, and for the leadership of the school. 

The boys at El Sembrador have a routine of school in the morning, work in the afternoon, and studying and playing in the evening. From the time the bell in the dining hall is first rung in the morning, Ivan’s work is nonstop until the boys share a devotional and then go to bed at night. It is very important for Ivan to set aside some time every day to enjoy the calm that comes with resting in God’s presence. These moments are an anchor for Ivan so that he is ready to face whatever life brings him. 

GIVE:  Many students at El Sembrador come from broken homes and are rarely told they can bring positive change to their lives. By sponsoring a student, you are letting him know that someone loves him and is invested in his success. Through your prayers, written letters, and financial support, you are investing in the future generation of Honduran leaders. Sign up to sponsor a student today!

Is Giving Up the American Dream Worth It?

Steve Solheim, Missionary, Honduras
The Call, January-March 2017

Ah, the good ol’ American dream. There we were in our little house with our little family and our little dog. We were well on our way in our careers and livin’ the dream. What more could we want as we sang: “Our house, in the middle of our street”? We had two cars in the driveway, and we’d just completed our deck—the biggest one on the block, mind you. Yes, we were doing our best to keep up with the Joneses.

I started my career in the military and worked my way into a great position managing the battalion helpdesk. After I left the Marines, I landed a contract job in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Wow, I thought, these people are paying me to do what I love. How lucky can I get? For the next several years I bounced around from contract to contract, trying to land my dream job.

After 15 years I finally started my job as a systems engineer doing software deployment. But, there was one tiny problem with my dream job—I hated it. You see, I started out serving my country in the Marines. Then, I worked at various positions helping people with their computer problems. And now, I was stuck in an isolated corner way back in the IT department with no contact with the people I was there to help.

Meanwhile, we had just switched to a new church with a great youth program. Unbeknownst to us, it also had a great missions program. Through a series of well-orchestrated moves by God, we went on a two-week work team and a year-long volunteer assignment followed by a complete career change to honor and follow Him in Honduras. I was using my spiritual gifts of Helper and Service again as well as one I was completely unaware of: Faith.

With the extreme cut in income that we took going to the mission field, we thought we wouldn’t be able to do all the things we loved to do and that we would never be able to do the things we always dreamed of doing. That was a lie. For everything that we gave up, God has blessed us with more opportunities and even given us the opportunity to do things that we never even dreamed possible when we were trapped in the American dream.

ACT: This month, hide the words of 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 in your heart. Memorize this passage as a reminder for your missions journey.

Is It Worth It for Missionaries to Serve Overseas When There Is Need in the U.S.?

Larry Overholt, Missionary, Honduras
The Call, January-March 2017

The mystery of God’s call has continually intrigued me. From our early teen years, Angie and I have each sensed that God was calling us to be missionaries to a culture outside of the one into which we had been born. God’s call for us to serve as missionaries has developed over the years, but it has never wavered. We continue to serve in Honduras because God leads us in that direction. 

Throughout our careers as missionaries, people have periodically asked us to explain why we continue to be missionaries overseas when there is such a need at home. The question has come to us in a variety of contexts. Perhaps, you have even wondered about these things from time to time.

1. WELL-BEING

There is ongoing concern about whether we will be safe. Family members, close friends, and even new acquaintances have expressed their concern for our physical welfare. Angie and I became missionaries 36 years ago because we understood that missionary service is our spiritual calling from God. We dare not be missionaries to Honduras without that call, and we dare not stay home if God is calling us to go to Honduras. For us, the decision to become missionaries has never been rational or calculated.

2. ACHIEVEMENT

At times, people have wondered if we have fulfilled our missionary obligation and it is time now to return home. On occasion, we have even been offered jobs at home, assuming that missionary service was a short-term obligation.

For us, missions was not a training ground to do something else as a real career. Angie and I weren’t motivated to serve as a way to “find ourselves” or to use our experience as a springboard to a better career. This is what God called us to long-term.

3.CURIOSITY

Sometimes people are merely curious to know why someone would leave their home country and spend their entire career elsewhere. People have confided that they enjoy missions but have no idea how we can do it full time. Why would we continue to give up the comforts of home?

We’ve heard the sentiment that missionaries are no longer needed in other countries. Through modern communication technology, it is assumed that everyone can now “hear” the gospel. That assumption is based on the idea that the gospel comes primarily by hearing alone. There is still no more effective way of sharing Christ than by meeting people face-to-face in their communities and showing them that we care enough about them to be willing to become uncomfortable and that we desire to understand their needs.

We cannot underestimate the value of building relationships among members of Christ’s body worldwide. Working as multinational missionary teams contributes to a better understanding of each other and changes our worldview—for the better—in both directions.

4. COST

We depend on a strong support team of faithful champions who provide economically for us to continue as missionaries. Many of them also come on work teams, and hundreds of people we know invest time in praying for the ministry in Honduras. 

Several years ago, an older couple visited us on a work team in Honduras. They had supported us for years. As we said goodbye to them at the airport, they turned to us and said, “We came to see how our investment in missions was being used. We are going home knowing that our investment has been worthwhile.” The investment in missions is one that we gladly share with those who support us.

We recognize that there are many needs at home and that we could surely become involved in ministry there. Our specific call to serve as foreign missionaries does not make us any less responsible to those in need in the U.S. The call of God on us to be ambassadors of Christ wherever we “go” applies equally to every Christian.

Just as numerous people have asked us why we decided to become missionaries, a number of them have come to us with tears in their eyes, telling us that they had not been obedient to God’s call on their lives to become missionaries. It is never too late to contribute to the missionary cause. Angie and I will tell you, “It’s worth it!”

GO: Join Larry and Angie by serving on the Choluteca team. Career and volunteer opportunities are available for grant writers, small business facilitators, and vocational educators. Learn more at www.wgm.org/honduras.

Community Health Evangelism

Angie Overholt, Missionary, Honduras
The Call, October-December 2016

For over two decades now, Larry and I have enjoyed working in Community Health Evangelism.

CHE is a model that takes a holistic approach toward community development. According to the CHE Network website, “CHE seamlessly integrates evangelism and discipleship with community health and development.” 

Evangelism and discipleship are the foundational principles that define CHE and set the model apart from secular health promotion models that have been used around the world by health extension workers. We believe that the CHE program in Choluteca, Honduras, has been successful because it is built on both biblical principles and sound community development theory.

The apostle Paul wrote, "Do not be conformed to this world, but continuously be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God’s will is—what is proper, pleasing, and perfect" (Romans 12:2 ISV). Real transformational learning is made possible when people accept Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. Accepting Christ leads to a dramatic change in worldview that will positively impact individuals as well as entire communities. 

As a result of applying CHE principles in Honduras, we have seen people’s lives transformed in ways that we could never have imagined. The multiplication principles apply to healthcare as well as spiritual evangelism and discipleship. New converts are always excited to tell others of the life-changing experiences that they are going through. Using the CHE model of education, the “good news” is communicated throughout the social system in the entire community. 

Community health evangelists perform many different services in the community. They collaborate with other organizations, including local churches, healthcare agencies, and local governing groups. One local governmental health center sent words of gratitude to us, saying that our lay health workers are filling an educational gap that existed in the community. The local health center staff had been overwhelmed and was grateful for the support.

Local pastors and community leaders have noted that our health evangelists treat every home that they enter in the same way; they do not attempt to get people to switch churches but encourage everyone to support the church that they attend. CHE teachers on the island that we visit noticed that the photos our regional coordinator was showing them of malnourished children looked very similar to their own children. On their own, they sought out extra help from the local health department and learned that many of the population’s children were undernourished.

Last year, we had the great joy and privilege of meeting Stan Rowland, the author and teacher who has had a great influence in making CHE popular. Stan confirmed that one of the primary concepts of CHE is participatory learning, which is the collective effort of facilitators and students learning together. The participatory model includes dialogue rather than a lecture or monologue by the teacher.

Above all, real transformation only comes through faithfully following Christ.

MORE: Learn more about the CHE Network and register for training. 

He Directs My Path

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Karen Rickel, Retiree, Honduras
April-June 2016

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” I learned this verse as a child, and it has encouraged me many times when unexpected changes have occurred in my life. Whether I have faced a change in my ministry, such as a new assignment, or a personal crisis, such as an illness or family concerns, I’ve found my faith growing stronger when I remember that God is in control. That has never been truer than it is now when I am in the United States on a medical leave rather than in Honduras.

I was diagnosed with uterine cancer in November 2011. I came to the U.S. for treatment, which included surgery, chemo, and radiation. By the fall of 2012, I was able to return to Honduras believing that, other than having frequent checkups to be sure everything was fine, my cancer battle was over. So when a biopsy in October 2013 confirmed a diagnosis of stage four metastatic uterine cancer, I was shocked. I needed to stay in the U.S. indefinitely for treatment. The doctor explained that she could give me treatments to prolong my life, but that there was no cure. 

Suddenly everything seemed out of control. I had no idea if I would live for a few months or a few years, or if God would choose to heal me. I knew He could heal, but was that His will for me? Those verses from Proverbs took on new meaning as I realized God was giving me a new assignment. This is not one that I would have chosen, but it is one I am convinced He is trusting me with.

Transitioning back to the U.S. after living overseas for more than 30 years was a difficult task. Evidently I’d adapted to the Honduran culture much more than I had realized. The culture there is based on relationships, and I was used to having neighbors I would see and talk to every day. Here, I rarely see my neighbors, and I’ve had to work at it to get acquainted with some of them. I felt a real sense of loss. I missed my work, my church, and my missionary family. Also, not having my foster son, Toroni, with me was very hard. He had lived with me for more than 11 years, and I knew he missed his mama. Maybe almost as much as I missed him!

But during this time, God has shown me His love through the many people who, over the years, have not only become ministry partners, but friends. I’ve received many cards, phone calls, and emails assuring me of their prayers for me and my healing. I am encouraged knowing I am not in this battle by myself. Three of my siblings and their families live in the area, so I am blessed by their presence and support. Gifts of money to meet financial needs have arrived just when I’ve needed them. I am involved in the same church my siblings attend and enjoy fellowshipping with them—something I wasn’t able to do while on the mission field. I also volunteer one afternoon each week at our local Pregnancy Help Center, a ministry I really enjoy.

I’ve come to realize that I am right where God wants me at this time in my life. He has once again changed my place of residence and ministry, but He isn’t finished with me yet. I’m so thankful for the lessons He is teaching me each day. My faith is becoming stronger as I see Him meeting all my needs and those of my son in Honduras. I’m not sure what the future holds, but I know my life is in God’s very capable hands. I am trusting Him as He continues to direct my paths. 

ACT: Did God bring someone else to your mind as you read Karen’s testimony? Send them a note of encouragement, pray with them over the phone, or bless them with a financial gift to help with ongoing medical costs.

GIVE: Rising medical costs are a challenge to WGM’s self-funded medical plan. You can help provide medical coverage for  missionaries and staff with a financial gift. Make checks payable to World Gospel Mission with account #41090 on the memo line. Send check donations to World Gospel Mission, P.O. Box 948, Marion, Indiana  46952-0948.

Transition Is the Definition of a Missionary

Larry Overholt, Missionary, Honduras
April-June 2016

Transition is a part of the very definition of being sent as a missionary to another culture. Knowing and accepting that God is in control of our lives makes it possible for us to continue through all the transitions of missionary life. It is vitally important for us to actually find joy in God’s will for us. Psalm 37:4 has encouraged me most throughout a career of transition: “Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart” (NKJV). Angie and I have continually experienced the reality of delight in the Lord, and of God giving us the desires of our hearts. 

In our experience, the most difficult has been the repeated transition between homeland ministry assignment and Honduras. The first time we traveled to Honduras, we were full of excitement and anticipation of all the new things we would experience. As new first-term missionaries, we had permitted ourselves to become focused on the glamour of working full time in the ministry that we felt God had called us to do. Once we arrived in Honduras, we were face to face with the reality of living in another culture: speaking another language, eating different foods, and not being able to communicate daily with our family and friends back home. During our first years in Honduras, we did not have telephones, it was before the Internet existed, and postal “Aerograms” took two weeks to arrive. Our grocery shopping was done in a tiny store that carried few of the conveniences we were used to from home. Our first missionary assignment of five years was a long time to be away from family and friends. Now that our children have grown up and we have grandchildren, we realize how difficult it must have been for our parents to see us make that first move to Honduras.

Part of the missionary life is the continual change from one job to another. One of the popular missionary mottoes is to “Continually work yourself out of a job.” The challenge for the missionary is to mentor people to prepare them to take over for us. Oftentimes we come into a situation to fill a gap and it is our responsibility to prepare others to take over. One of the greatest joys that a missionary can hear is how people we have helped prepare for ministry are now serving the Lord. 

In 35 years of missionary service with World Gospel Mission to Honduras, Angie and I have transitioned through dozens of jobs and eight different transitions back to the States. We are grateful that through all the transitions in our lives we can still say that “the joy of the Lord is my strength.” We may even have a couple of transitions left in us yet. 

GO: Has God called your family members to serve as missionaries? Make plans to visit them during their term on the field. Your relationship will be stronger after you have experienced together this new phase of life in which God has placed them. 

The Sugar Cane Workers

Larry Overholt, Missionary, Honduras
January-March 2016

I first met the Siete de Mayosugar cane workers in May 2014 when Angie and I were hosting a group of agriculture students from The Ohio State University. One of the scheduled activities for the students’ study-abroad experience was visiting a large local sugar cane operation. While we were touring the fields, I noticed a group of sugar cane workers standing idly off to one side of the field.

As the university students walked through the fields learning about how sugar cane is planted, I was more interested in learning about the group of men and finding out why they were not working. By their gestures and the tones of their voices, the men seemed uneasy. I walked over to them, introduced myself, and explained our purpose for touring the sugar cane operations. After their initial surprise that I spoke Spanish, one of the sugar cane workers recognized me from occasionally seeing me before in the village that they walked through on the way home from work. As I talked with them, I learned that they were temporarily halted because the seed material they had been planting had run out and new material had not arrived yet. The sugar cane planters are paid by the amount of work they get done daily. When there was no material available to plant, they did not make any money.

The temperature was near 100 degrees and the men were taking advantage of the lull in the work schedule to rehydrate their bodies. One of the workers told me that they live in the mountain region above the village of Siete de Mayo where our Shalom church ministry team has been actively working for the past several years. As we talked, we learned that we had several friends in common within the Siete de Mayo community, especially Veronica, who happened to be a family member to David, one of the workers. Veronica was our key contact person when we first started a new ministry there. Without her support, it is unlikely that we would have ever been able to begin the ministry that is now growing. I was reminded how important it is to keep a positive testimony in the community and to build our network of relationships.

One of the missionaries’ major challenges is to find ways to build relationships with people. With the sugar cane workers, there were potential cultural barriers at two different levels: that of a North American and even more as an outsider from their community. The first meeting out in the middle of the field with the sugar cane workers has led to more opportunities to continue talking with the men. Someday, we hope to be able to enter their communities to share the gospel of Christ. We are continually amazed at how God opens ministry opportunities by allowing us to become friends of the “friends of a friend.”

In order to get to know the workers better, I approached them with a request to take photos of areas of interest in their lives. Each worker was given a disposable camera, and, once the pictures were developed, they chose one favorite picture to talk about.

ACT: Share the joy of pictures with someone new in your life just as Larry did with his new friends. Take time to share your favorites so you can learn more about each other’s lives. The experience may have lasting memories just as it did here.

Souls and Soles

Hubert Harriman, President
January-March 2016

The invention of photography will probably remain as one of the more memorable discoveries in the history of mankind—to be able to capture a moment in time. Some pictures stay with you for a long time; they speak to powerful truths and stories. Let me tell you about one of those pictures that will always stand out in my mind.

I was participating (translating) with a youth team led by my oldest daughter, Anne, to the Manuelito Project, a ministry that saves children off the streets of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Our trip started where the work had started—in the church that Jorge Pinto pastors. Pastor Jorge took us into his office and immediately captured our attention, and the heart of their ministry, with a pair of shoes. He told us of a poor boy named David, whom they had rescued off the streets. He had been in their program for a while when David started asking for a new pair of shoes. Pastor Jorge argued that his shoes looked fine, until other kids told him to look at the soles. They were completely gone. The shoes just looked good from the top side, but he was literally walking barefoot on the bottom side. Then, he brought David into the office. A young man now, David had been transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ because someone had cared for his soul as well as his soles. It was a powerful moment, to say the least.

Later that year, our children were with us for Christmas, and Anne gave me a special gift. She had taken a picture of David’s shoes and had framed that picture especially for me. That picture is hanging on our living room wall as a constant reminder that we must have eyes to see not only the soul, but the whole of each human being.

The apostle John wrote: “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” (1 John 3:17, NIV). I want to see the soul need of every person, but I also want to see the “sole” need of every person. Someone may look good on the “top side” of their shoes, but be suffering on the “bottom side” of their shoes. I pray for an eye to see underneath the veneer of the world—to discern that, even though people can look happy on the outside, they may be walking on bare feet. The deeper hurts are often overlooked when we don’t really look.

WGM is purposed to deal with both the souls and “soles” of those around us, seeking to bring God’s healing to the whole person. That is God’s sole purpose! We can do no less.

GO: Has God called you to serve kids in Honduras with your church, a work team, or as a volunteer? The Manuelito Project needs people interested in children’s and youth work, education, and much more! Visit www.wgm.org/honduras to learn more.

Prayer Calendar February 28-March 5, 2016

Hubert Harriman, "The invention of photography will probably remain as one of the more memorable discoveries in the history of mankind—to be able to capture a moment in time. Some pictures stay with you for a long time; they speak to powerful truths and stories. Let me tell you about one of those pictures that will always stand out in my mind."

Praise God for the Manuelito Project, which rescues children from the streets in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. p.2

WGM’s History in Pictures

Tracy Dubois, Support Staff
January-March 2016

“If we are to know where we are going, we need to know where we have been.” Retiree Burnis Bushong used this paraphrased quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln to introduce his book R.U.N., Reaching the Unreached Now: A Brief History of World Gospel Mission. As we look ahead to another year, let’s gain inspiration and encouragement from our strong, steadfast history.

June 1910: The Missionary Department of the National Association for the Promotion of Holiness was founded June 10, 1910, in University Park, Iowa. That same week, Rev. and Mrs. Cecil and Ellen Troxel and Rev. and Mrs. Woodford and Harriet Taylor were appointed to China as the Mission’s first missionaries. In 1920, the China Field had 15 missionaries and hundreds of Chinese Christians working to win souls for the Lord.

November 1910: Beatrice “Mother” Beezley became the first American staff member. Her title was Secretary of the China Bureau, and her office was simply her briefcase. On July 10, 1913, Mother Beezley and Iva Durham Vennard organized the first Prayer Band in Chicago. The group met for six hours every Friday to pray for missions.

1919: Call to Prayer was first published by Mrs. Beezley as a bimonthly magazine. In March 2009, the magazine was renamed The Call (www.wgm.org/call). It is now a quarterly resource that encourages readers to become missions active wherever they are.

1926: The Mission separated from the Christian Holiness 

Association and became incorporated in Illinois as The Missionary Society of the National Association for the Promotion of Holiness. In 1937, the organization’s name was changed to the National Holiness Missionary Society. The name officially became World Gospel Mission in 1954.

1946: WGM reported 102 missionaries on seven mission fields, including China, Kenya, India, Burundi, Honduras, Bolivia,
and the Texas/Mexico border.

1956: Men With Vision was founded as an outreach of WGM. Today, MWV has 15 active chapters in the U.S. In 1963, six young people served on the mission field, starting Summer Career Corps. This outreach later became known as the Volunteers In Action program. In 2015, WGM’s mobilization team appointed 13 missionary disciplesand sent out 28 Missionary Volunteer Partners, 30 VIA participants, and 64 ministry teams with 664 team members.

1967: WGM was actively working on 16 fields, including China, Kenya, India, Burundi, Honduras, Bolivia, Mexico, Japan, the American Indian Field, Taiwan, Lebanon, Peniel Missions, Egypt, Haiti, the Texas/Mexico border, and Brazil.

1969-1992: Ministries were started in Indonesia, Argentina, Nicaragua, Haitian American Ministries (in Florida), Israel, Tanzania, Paraguay, Hungary, and Uganda.

June 2010: WGM celebrated its 100th anniversary during International Celebration of Missions in Marion, Indiana. Partnering with local churches and Indiana Wesleyan University, WGM commemorated the past 100 years of doing God’s work together. An estimated 1,000 people from 19 different countries attended the milestone event.

Present: WGM partners with individuals, groups, and churches worldwide to make disciples of Christ and to encourage believers to become missions-active Christians. Visit www.wgm.org/locations and www.wgm.org/causes to learn more about where and how WGM’s nearly 240 missionaries are impacting the world with Christ’s love.

MORE: Take the children in your life on an in-depth trip down memory lane by following our Kids’ Curriculum for 2016: Time Travel Adventures (www.wgm.org/time-travel). Join siblings Bethany and Gabe and their tour guide, Dr. B, as they travel back in time to meet some WGM heroes, including the Troxels and Taylors, Ernie and Sue Steury, and Donald and Twana Hawk.

Weathering Hurricane Mitch

Weathering Hurricane Mitch

Marion Lewton, Retiree
January-March 2016

When natural disasters occur, pictures help us better understand the severity of the tragedy. That was true in 1998 when Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras. In this reprinted article from the March/April 1999 Call to Prayer, retiree Marion Lewton shares her travel story to El Sembrador, a school for underprivileged boys in Honduras. Marion served with her late husband, Gene, in Kenya for 35 years and at WGM headquarters for seven years.

How fortunate, or unfortunate, we were to be in Honduras, Central America, with a Men With Vision work team when Hurricane Mitch hit! My husband, Gene, had been asked if he would direct the work team because the former director had not been able to go. We were glad we were free to help. Rain began falling Sunday night, October 25, and continued day and night for a week.

The pictures tell a better story than many words. Devastation was all around us. Many thousands of people lost everything—homes, belongings, and family members. What sorrow and sadness enveloped the nation of Honduras. Villages and families, homes, and possessions slid down the mountainsides, never to be seen again.

Most of the farmland along the river bottom at El Sembrador will have to be worked with a lot of fertilizer and topsoil to bring it back into production. Many trees were taken out by the roots and washed downstream. The farm lost its banana plants and cocoa trees. Yes, there will be many days, weeks, and months of hard work for everyone.

The school year usually ends the middle of November in Honduras. However, the president declared all schools closed and said there should be no graduation celebrations. A special meal was served for all of the students and staff at the farm school and the graduates were recognized, but they did not do the traditional march to receive their diplomas or have parties. All of the students understood. There was too much sorrow. Everyone had heavy hearts. This will be a year to be remembered by all.

It has been wonderful to hear of the many organizations, Christian and non-Christian, that have gone to Central America to help rebuild. Tons of beans, corn, rice, medicines, and clothing have been sent.

Rebuilding homes, bridges, and farmland will take years of work. God is at work. The churches have banded together and are helping the needy. This could be the beginning of real revival. God will bring victory and blessing out of tragedy.

El Sembrador has weathered this storm and God has truly blessed this ministry. With God’s help, more than 7,000 students have been ministered to through its programs.

GIVE: Help students continue to flourish in Honduras through the El Sembrador Sponsorship Program. Learn more about choosing a child to sponsor at www.wgm.org/elsembrador.

Prayer Calendar: January 17-23, 2016

Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras from October 23 - November 9, 1998. El Sembrador weathered the storm, thrived in the rebuilding years following, and God has truly blessed this ministry.


Thank God for the ministry of Escuela El Sembrador that provides education and vocational preparation to underprivileged boys in Honduras.

Directing Our Paths

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Sharon Garrett, Ministry Partner, with Kacey Ginn, Volunteer
October-December 2015

If my husband, Mike, and I have learned anything from our ministries in four different countries, it’s to be content where we are. God has taken us on a lot of detours.

We first went into an aviation ministry with WGM in 1994: Wings of Peace in Bolivia. Mike is a licensed Air Frame and Power Plant (A&P) mechanic, so he helped maintain the fleet of planes. I was a substitute teacher for preschool and taught home economics for a semester at Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center. But one year later, God closed that door. We resigned from WGM, but stayed involved in missions with our home church in Ohio.

In 2010, Mike and I felt the Lord calling us to be active in missionary work again, so we joined Christian Services International. We spent two months overseeing a medical clinic in Haiti and then traveled around the U.S., encouraging churches to organize work teams. However, due to a necessary downsizing within that organization, that ministry ended as well. Once again, God directed us to WGM.

We agreed to serve in Choluteca, Honduras, in what we thought was going to be a vocational teaching ministry. This time, God didn’t change the location, but the plan: we found there was a huge interest in learning English. We wound up teaching two different English classes. I’m still amazed how God used those classes to build precious relationships between us and our students.

In 2014, my mom was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Recognizing the need for me to be with my mom during her chemotherapy treatments, WGM asked if we would be interested in working at Missionary Maintenance Services in Coshocton, Ohio, which is near my mom. MMS is the facility where Mike received his training for his A&P license. Now he trains apprentices in airplane mechanics in this place where he first learned those skills. And now that my mom has made a full recovery, I’m looking for ways to plug into the ministry here as well.

When we originally started with Wings of Peace, we thought that was where we were going to be career missionaries. When we went to Choluteca, again, we thought that was where we would be until retirement. Now, we know that the Lord will be faithful to direct our paths (Proverbs 3:6)—it’s just not always the direction we think He’s going to take us.

MORE: Learn more about MMS Aviation or invite a representative to share about the ministry with your church or small group at www.mmsaviation.org. The facility is also always interviewing for new apprentices.

Luis’s House

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Ben Kempf, Volunteer
October-December 2015

Luis had dreamed of providing a good home for his wife and three kids in Choluteca, Honduras. In a city where many of its 150,000 residents live without privacy, adequate shelter, or protection from unwanted visitors, it seemed too good to be true when Luis was finally given the chance to own a well-made home.

Known as the Honduras Sustainable Housing Project, The Ohio State University students from various disciplines had been working with Luis and missionaries Larry and Angie Overholt to create his dream home. This two-bedroom house would act as a model in creating additional homes in the community, providing residents with affordable housing and amenities such as a stove and a functioning sanitation system.

Students from OSU had been figuring out costs and designs. World Gospel Mission had been raising funds for construction. A local Choluteca credit union had even agreed to provide Luis with a loan for some of the costs. Things were falling into place for the dream house, and construction was scheduled to begin in May 2015.

But on the morning of March 12, 2015, while riding his motorcycle to work, Luis was struck by another vehicle. He died from his injuries on the way to the hospital.

As missionaries in Honduras since 1982, Larry and Angie have seen communities affected by common everyday difficulties and also by unexpected ones like the death of Luis. Through church planting, community development, teaching, and leading children’s programs, their work within Choluteca brought them close to those affected by this tragedy.

Through programs such as the Honduras Sustainable Housing Project, hope can still be provided despite times of sorrow. Throughout the years, the Overholts have been working with OSU students to find solutions to the city’s many needs, with the hope of reaching their hearts. As a result of this partnership, students of various disciplines, from nursing to agriculture, have been traveling to Choluteca to provide help and expertise. In 2015, OSU sent six student teams, including a nursing team with 45 students!

Although a tragedy occurred, OSU’s team of engineering students returned to Choluteca as planned, and they built the home that Luis dreamed of for his family. Together, the Overholts, the students, and the members of the community will continue to build up Choluteca in more ways than one.

GIVE: Help build a home for others in Luis’s family’s neighborhood through a financial gift. Give online at www.wgm.org/community-development.

PRAY: Pray for Luis’s family and community as they adjust to daily life without him. Pray also that God will bless the housing project in Choluteca.

Prayer Calendar: November 29 - December 5, 2015

Luis had dreamed of providing a good home for his wife and three kids in Choluteca, Honduras. In a city where many of its 150,000 residents live without privacy, adequate shelter, or protection from unwanted visitors, it seemed too good to be true when Luis was finally given the chance to own a well-made home.

Known as the Honduras Sustainable Housing Project, The Ohio State University students from various disciplines had been working with Luis and missionaries Larry and Angie Overholt to create his dream home.

Praise God for the partnership between Larry and Angie Overholt and The Ohio State University.

Don’t Miss Out

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Sharon Hawk, Retiree
October-December 2015

Flexibility was certainly a key word for peace of mind and sanity for me on the mission field. It’s not something I learned quickly, but as I immersed myself in ministry, I found it to be so important.

Tim and I worked at El Sembrador farm school in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I fell in love with the ministry there. Watching the boys arrive at the beginning of the school year with so many needs, and then seeing the physical and spiritual changes in their lives throughout the year was incredible. Nothing compares to that. It was hard work, but so rewarding.

In 1983, Tim was asked to be the Honduras field director. That meant we had to leave the farm school and move to the capital city. I found it very hard to be flexible and leave the ministry I loved so much. How in the world could I love another ministry as much as El Sembrador? Packing up and moving to the city was very hard.

But it didn’t take long before we were content in our new responsibilities. Living in the city opened up a whole new world to us: the national church. We began meeting pastors and visiting churches, working with some of the greatest people we have ever met. I would have been happy to spend the rest of my life in this ministry.

But, once again, God had other plans for us. This time it was leaving Honduras and moving back to the United States to work at WGM headquarters. This move really did test my flexibility. I left Honduras with many tears and lots of apprehensions of what was ahead. Upon arriving at headquarters, I was asked to work in the Media Department. My main responsibility was helping missionaries put their slide presentations together so they could share their ministry with their support teams. I had no formal training in this area, but I was willing to do my best. Soon I realized the great opportunity I had to get to know every missionary in WGM. We worked many hours together making their presentations the best possible. I felt so blessed to have a small part in each missionary’s ministry. Those are memories I will never forget.

Being flexible is so important! If I hadn’t been, I would have missed out on so much that God had planned for me.

ACT: Has God been asking you to make a change in your life? Have you created excuses to cover your fears? Surrender your fears to God this week and take the steps in faith to follow His leading. His plans are always greater than our plans.